


Falling For You Slowly, Like The Snow

by tomachan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-07 02:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8780521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomachan/pseuds/tomachan
Summary: Lance brings Keith to his house as his fake date for Christmas."You did this?""I made it especially for you."





	1. Just Go With It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MagiKatFish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagiKatFish/gifts).



> A gift to Magikatfish for a Klance secret santa! I hope you like it c:! It has the same vibes as dirty laundry because of the fake dating thing, but it started out from a Tumblr post with a bunch of Christmas prompts, and I just went with it.

It honestly started out as harmless as anything could possibly go, in Keith's opinion. Then, Lance was on his knees in front of him.

"Please, Keith!" Lance practically whined, hands clasped in front of him. There was a pout on his lips.

Keith looked around the room for any guidance, any sign for help, anything. Hunk had his face shoved way too far into a book to actually be reading it, either trying to avoid being asked for help or trying to hide his snickering. Either way, Hunk was no help. His face turned to Pidge, and they just shook their head, a sign that, no, in fact, his friend that would help him search for cryptids at four a.m. would not help him now.

Shiro just gave a soft smile, all too knowing, all too evil in Keith's mind, "Keith, you're the best candidate for the job."

"That's a lie; you're totally more date-able than I am! Better to take home to the family!" Keith threw his arms up, exasperated. Shiro was hot, intelligent, nice, what more would a parent want? "Look at yourself!"

Shiro chuckled; _evil_ , Keith thinks again. "You know I'm going to Allura's for Christmas. Can't."

Keith outright groaned, throwing his hands to his sides in a child-like tantrum.

"Keith, buddy, pal, you gotta help me out here. Just pretend to be my date," Lance pleaded again. Keith had the thought of kicking him but put that to the side for now. "It's just for a few days; I need to bring someone home!"

"Hunk, come on," Keith turned to him, making him jump behind his book. Hunk stayed quiet, maybe if he didn't move, Keith might not see him.

Lance slumped, "My family already _knows_ Hunk, and how he's totally in love with Shay."

Hunk put his book down with a soft slam against his thighs, "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Maybe if you leave now, he won't notice," Pidge stage whispered to Keith, making Lance turn right back around.

"Come on, Keith, anything. Name your price. Homework for a week, a month! I'll do your laundry!" Keith blew air out of his nose in a snort. "What do you want?"

"I don't know.." Keith sighed.

Lance got up and put his hands in front of him in a plea, "Come on, man. I'll give you the McClain holiday special, big pine tree and everything! It'll be snowing; you'll meet my little brothers and sister, come on, man! You don't wanna celebrate Christmas alone, do ya?"

Keith looked around and furrowed his eyebrows. He muttered something soft under his breath.

"What?"

"I said-" more mumbling.

"Keith, buddy-"

Keith groaned loudly, "I said I've never had Christmas before, okay?!"

The room was silent for a second, everyone staring at Keith. He was uncomfortable. There were too many eyes on him, and he wrapped his arms around himself. Lance was looking down at him, and he felt anxious at the height difference.

"You've never-" Lance repeated under his breath. He raised his voice and put both of his hands on Keith's shoulders. "Dude, you gotta come then! My family is so big, there's so many presents, we make gingerbread houses; dude, you have to come!"

Keith looked everywhere but at Lance's now sparkling eyes. He felt under pressure, like he was drowning; Lance had a way of making him feel like that, somehow.

He shuffled his feet under him, muttering, "How big is the tree?"

Lance tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, I dunno, it depends on the tree we find. Eight, nine feet maybe?"

He looked up at him finally, "Wait, that's a thing?"

"What's a thing?"

"Like, real trees?"

Everyone was looking at him again. Pidge started laughing, covering their hand over their face to try to calm down.

"What?" Keith looked around at everyone laughing at him.

"Dude, yeah, we get real trees," Lance snickered, grin turning sloppy as he tried not to laugh too hard.

He frowned, "I thought that was just a thing people made up. Thought you had to buy a fake one."

"Aw, Keith, buddy, you crack me up-"

"Lance," Shiro warned, being able to tell that Keith was just getting frustrated about this whole ordeal. How was he supposed to know people actually went out and chopped trees down to stick in their homes for, like, a week? Sounds fake, but okay.

"I don't have to get you or any of your family any gifts, do I?" Keith shoved his hands in his pocket.

Lance bit his lip, thinking, "Well, I mean not if you don't want t- Wait, wait, hold the phone, is that a yes?"

Keith sighed, looking to the side and pushing his hair behind one ear, "Yeah, I guess."

"Yes-!"

"But!" Keith put a finger in his face. "No love-y dove-y crap. You're handsy enough as is. And you get me a really nice gift, I'm talking better than those gloves you got me last year."

"I thought they were nice!"

"They were dollar store gloves that you cut the fingers off of."

"Yeah!"

"You just left them like that."

"Yeah?"

"They unraveled within the day."

Lance groaned, "Whatever, are you going to be my date for Christmas or what, mullet?"

His hand was out in front of him, a sign to shake it to make a deal. Well, it's not like he had anything better to do than to just sit around the college campus, waiting for nothing to happen. His hand ghosted next to Lance's before finally gripping it and giving it a shake.

"Fine."

\--

"Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling!"

Keith shoved his face into his hands, hissing, "I understand it's almost Christmas, but do you _have_ to sing along to _every single song_ that comes on the radio?"

"Yep! That's what you're gonna get when you're dating me, baby!"

Lance swung his arm around Keith's shoulders, making the car swerve slightly.

"One-" he peeled Lance's scrawny, noodle arm off of him, "We're not dating. And two, I thought we agreed on no touching."

Lance glanced at him and rolled his eyes, going back to the road. He had a nice profile, Keith noted.

"They're not going to believe me if I don't even hold your hand," Lance scoffed.

Keith sputtered, "You're not holding my hand! Your hands are all sweaty and gross!"

"Dude, you're gay; I'm bi. This shouldn't repulse you."

He rolled his eyes at him, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm not repulsed by holding another man's hand; I'm repulsed by holding _your_ hand."

Lance's hand reached his heart, and he dramatically said, "Keith. I'm hurt, wounded even."

Keith rolled his eyes again; he'd probably get a headache soon just because of this stupid man sitting in the front seat of the car. He tried to drift off to sleep as quickly as he could; this ride would be a long one, and he did not want to be conscious for most of it, especially now that Lance has gone back to singing what was now Jingle Bell Rock on the radio.

This is going to be the longest few days of Keith's life.


	2. SnowBall Is Life

"Keith. Keith, buddy, pal, we're here, wake up," he felt a pressure push his shoulder over and over.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes to get adjusted. Immediately, he squinted his eyes again, the view in front of him almost completely black. Keith looked over at Lance, face illuminated in the dim light of the car. He never noticed that Lance looked...kinda pretty? He noticed himself leaning in and leaned back forcefully. Keith's head pounded softly.

"What time is it?" he muttered, grabbing his carry-on backpack in front of him and starting to get ready.

"It's about eight. Day light savings, am I right? It's so dark out here; I almost slid on the ice ten minutes back. You'd better be lucky you're with the master of driving, or we might have skid into a tree," Lance proudly pointed to himself.

Keith groaned, "I think I might've liked that with how this is going."

Lance shrugged and opened his door, waiting for Keith to get out. Keith got out and immediately grabbed his shoulders, shivering almost instantly.

"Holy f- Lance, how cold is it out here?!" Keith searched his backpack for a jacket of any kind. No such luck.

Lance rounded Keith in his big, fuzzy jacket; stupid idiot came prepared for once, Keith thought. Keith almost turned around, "Not as cold as this."

Keith was pretty sure he turned into a girl for a moment there. The pitch of his scream was high enough. Ice slid down from his neck to his lower back, leaving a wet trail the entire time. Keith had never felt any pain like this before; was he dead? He couldn't be sure.

Shuffling as much of the snow out of his thin, black t-shirt; a mistake in clothing choices, he now realized; he turned to Lance.

"What. Was. That." Keith grit his teeth, his entire body shaking violently.

"Snow," Lance grinned, shrugging.

Keith started to take a few steps forward, grabbing a pile of snow with his hands and aiming at Lance.

"Woah, woah, Keith, buddy, if you throw that snowball, then that means war, you know that, right?" Lance was backing up, hands up in surrender.

"Yep!" Keith yelled, throwing it and having it land directly in Lance's face. Bullseye.

Lance wiped his face and smirked at Keith. Oh, god, not now heart. Not when you're about to be brutally murdered with snow.

"Oh, it's on."

\--

It had to have been hours; at least, it felt like it. In reality, it was probably only fifteen minutes. They both huffed out warm air as they laid next to each other.

"You know- -huff- this is probably- -huff- the best time- -huff- I've had with you," Keith laughed, panting in between words.

"Me too," Lance agreed, smiling up at the sky. "We do need to go inside, though. You'll probably die in that outfit."

Keith sat up slowly, stretching, "Yeah, you're right, you're right. I couldn't find a jacket in my bag, though. I probably have one in my suitcase, but it's on the bottom of the trunk.."

He felt a warm embrace circle him, hands on his shoulders.

"Lance, what are you- You're going to be cold, take your jacket back," Keith rushed to take it off, but Lance's hands stopped him.

"Dude, relax. I'll be fine til we get inside. Plus, it looks good on you. I'm sure my mother would like to see you like this instead of freezing," Lance put a hand on his back. They sat together for a moment, watching the dead quiet of the night.

Lance finally stood up, holding his hand out for Keith to take. Keith glanced at his hand, then at Lance's face, then back to his hand, finally putting his in Lance's to be pulled up.

"Walk in holding hands or no?" Lance quietly said, hand still enclosed with Keith's.

Keith looked down, thinking, "Uh. Yeah. I guess." How could Lance say that so nonchalant?

They started walking the long driveway up to the house, a fairly large house popping up into vision. Lance's hand in his was cold, but their hands were quickly heating up from contact. Keith looked up at the house, then back at Lance. He was barely giving off a smile, as usual.

"Hey, uh...Thanks for lending me your jacket. It's, well, it's pretty warm," Keith muttered, looking at his footsteps in front of him.

"No problem, doll," Lance smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Lance."

"Alright, alright, no pet names, yeesh."

They made their way to the door, and Lance knocked on the door, hiking his own bag up on his shoulders. They waited a second before the door slowly opened. A small, plump woman opened it a crack, as to not let the cold air inside the warm, inviting house.

"Lance?"

"Mama!" he opened the door more in the process of practically scooping his mother up in a hug.

His hand slipping out of Lance's, Keith stood there awkwardly for a moment before Lance stopped the hug and turned to him.

"Keith, this is my mom! Mama, this is my date," he paused a second, holding his hand out to him. "Keith."

It looked like a photograph, posed and perfect and soft and inviting and way too...unreal. Lance, holding his probably five foot tall mother in one arm while the other was outstretched to Keith, there was a wreath on the door, and the place smelled sweet like gingerbread cookies and vanilla. He felt, sort of...out of place.

"Uh, hi," Keith managed to say after a second.

He was frozen to the ground in, what, fear? Anxiety? He couldn't place it.


	3. It's Too Cold For You Here

It had taken almost the entire night to get introduced to his family. There were so many of them; there's no way Keith is going to remember any of the little kids, the teenage kids, the parents and elders; the most he'd had to remember by that point was the "Voltron Group" as assigned by Pidge in the group chat he'd been placed in.

"Alright, sweetie, well, go on to your room; it should be just as you left it. I wish I could give you two one of the guest bedrooms, but your aunts, uncles, and cousins are taking those," his mother smiled softly, patting Lance on the side of the face.

Lance smiled right back. The dimples in his face matched his mother's. "Got it, mama."

"I don't want anyone complaining about hearing noises in the middle of the night now, you hear me?" she reached up and pinched his ear slightly.

His face immediately flushed, "M-Mama! No! No! I don't- I won't- I mean- No!!"

She just laughed and pushed him towards the stairs, Keith trailing behind silently.

By the time Keith and Lance got up to Lance's bedroom, Lance's ears had still not turned down from the bright red they were at. Keith sat on the bed, taking out his clothes for the night.

"You okay?" Keith asked, looking up at him and noticing his still flustered state.

Lance scratched the back of his neck, sighing, "Yeah, yeah, mama was just insinuating that we'd- you know- do the do."

Keith snorted, "Do the do? What are you, twelve? And anyways, nothing's going to happen since you're sleeping on the floor, so there's no worries there."

Lance practically yelped, turning to look at Keith in the eyes, "What? This is my bedroom; I'm sleeping on the bed. Plus, it's like twenty degrees on the floor. There's only so many blankets!"

"Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor," Keith raised his eyebrow. "You practically gave me hypothermia outside. I deserve the warm blankets."

Lance sat next to him and poked his side, "There's enough room for both of us up here, you know."

Keith's face flushed, and he backtracked rapidly.

"What- I- No, this is a twin, it couldn't- Fine, fine, I'll sleep on the floor, but I'm taking a pillow," Keith took his bundle of pajamas and hurried off to the bathroom out in the hall.

He closed the door and locked it, sighing softly. The reflection in the mirror- yeesh, did he seriously meet Lance's family like that? He tried to brush his hair with his hands quickly, trying his best to fix it to no avail. At least the little kids liked his hair; one of the little boys thought it was "pretty".

Keith took off his jacket- wait, this is Lance's jacket. He'd been talking to his family in his jacket the entire time. His face flushed, and he practically ripped the long coat off of himself and threw it to the floor before stripping and putting on his pajama pants and shirt. At least his sleepwear was festive, he softly smiled at them: his fleece, red and green plaid pajama pants and his shirt he got from Hunk last Christmas that said "Ho Ho Homo", a shirt fit for Keith, he thought.

He adjusted himself and tried to fix his hair again. No better. Resigning, he took his rumpled up clothes in one hand and put Lance's jacket in the other, walking out the door and into the bedroom.

"Ho Ho Homo? Really, Keith?" Lance smirked, pulling the rest of his shirt down and finishing changing himself.

Keith ignored him and put his jacket on a chair in the room, "You, uh, forgot to tell me I was still wearing your coat."

"You were cold," Lance shrugged, handing him a pillow and a thin blanket from the bed. "You're going to be cold tonight, too. Didn't you bring any socks?"

"Nope," Keith replied, putting everything on the floor.

They stayed silent as Keith turned off the light and sat down on the cold wood of the floor. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he heard Lance speak.

"Thanks for pretending to be my boyfriend for the holidays."

"Whatever. You still owe me something good for Christmas."

"I'll let you pick out the tree?" Lance offered. He could hear the bed creaking as Lance shuffled about.

Keith closed his eyes, "Yeah, sure."

"Good night, Keith."

"Night, Lance."

\--

The curtains were open, so Keith could tell through cracked eyes that it was still the dead of night. The only sign of light came through as the light of the moon, barely illuminating the room. Keith sat up, shivering. Lance was, for once, right; it was freezing, and Keith couldn't sleep on the floor much longer.

He looked over at the bed; Lance was snoring softly. It wasn't too annoying, something which is a feat when Lance is awake. Keith smiled at himself.

Keith crawled over to the edge of the bed and poked at Lance's arm. Once, twice, three times.

Lance woke up almost violently with a snort and a soft groan, "Keith? Keith, bud...buddy...what d'ya want?"

"Are there any more blankets? It's too cold," Keith softly said, hand still on Lance's shoulder.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, eyes still closed. He moaned softly, trying to think, "Uh...no, don' think so..."

"Oh." Keith looked down, trying to decide what to do next.

"You can come up here if ya want," Lance slurred, scooting a bit over to the side.

Keith could feel the heat radiating off of him and almost immediately went into his arms, but he stopped himself. Slowly, one foot at a time, he climbed into the bed next to Lance.

Lance's arms almost immediately wrapped around his torso, and the snoring continued- louder this time. Right in Keith's ear. He turned over to the side to get away from him, and Lance's arms wrapped around him tighter, pulling him closer. Keith's entire face must have been red, since he didn't feel cold anymore. He decided, this was something he'd have to wait on to think about for the morning.

\--

Light hit his face, and he scrunched up his nose in discomfort. Who's shining a light in his face? It's the middle of the night! He opened his eyes just a crack. Oh. It's daytime. Why is his back so warm?

He started to sit up when he saw two arms wrapped around his chest. A soft murmur came from behind him as he moved, and he sat back down. The arms wrapped around him like a snake had tightened, and he was pulled closer to the warmth.

"'S too early, go back t' sleep," Lance murmured in his ear, obviously still asleep.

The sensation made him shiver slightly, and he obliged. He turned around on his other side and looked at Lance. His face was so calm and peaceful. Why can't he be like this all the time? He put his head underneath Lance's chin and sighed; it was only because of the warmth, he kept repeating in his head. His face is cold, and he needs heat. Body heat.

Another thing for another hour, later, he thought, drifting back to sleep.

When he woke up a few hours later, still wrapped in Lance's arms like a big Cuban cocoon, he felt something pulling at his hair. He opened his eyes slowly to see Lance awake, and the tugging sensation, he realized, was just Lance playing with his hair.

Immediately, he stopped and put both of his hands next to himself; Keith immediately wanted the heat back.

"S-So, uh, you came up here, huh?" Lance's voice was rough from sleep, Keith could tell.

"You told me to," Keith muttered softly, leaning his head against the pillow more and rubbing at his eyes. "What time's it?"

"I did? Wow, I was conked out last night; probably from all the driving... It's about noon I think," Lance answered, scratching at his collarbone.

Keith's eyes widened, "Noon? I haven't slept so late in-"

"Whoa, whoa, late? This is not sleeping in, my man. Sleeping in is sleeping til, like, five p.m., waking up for dinner, then passing out again."

Keith looked up at Lance and noticed how close they were again, and how Lance was practically pinned against the wall. Keith backed up as much as he could and started to get out of bed.

"We should, uh, tree? Today? Or, um, tomorrow?" Keith questioned, pointing his fingers in directions for no reason.

"Sure, we can pick out a tree today. Christmas is in, what, three days?" Lance yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. "You should go get changed, then. You can take my jacket again, too, if you want."

"That's- uh, not necessary, thank you," Keith said, taking his bag and going to the bathroom to freshen up and get dressed.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he closed the door. Weird.


	4. New Heights

Picking out trees had been exponentially harder than Keith had first thought, and it was entirely way too awkward without Lance there. Apparently he had stayed home to do the decorations with his mother and aunts while the uncles, father, children, and some cousins (and Keith) went to get the tree.

First, they had to drive to get the tree, then they had to pick out the _perfect_ tree, which, apparently, is supposed to take over two hours of staring at the exact same trees over and over again until the little ones decided which one they wanted. Then, after _that_ , they had to cut down the tree. That part came with a lot of embarrassment as they asked Keith to make the first chop, and he almost completely missed the tree, somehow. After that, they had to tie the tree to the car, another feat in itself, then drive back.

Keith's back hurt, and he was just waiting to get dinner because the breakfast they had earlier had made him crave so much more. Could Lance cook like that? He wouldn't mind being his boyfriend if he could cook like his mother did.

Did he just think that?

Nevermind.

Keith opened the door for the little kids, seeing Lance on a ladder, putting lights up on the ceiling. The little ones ran around the ladder, making it wiggle a little. Keith rushed over, holding onto the ladder and one of Lance's legs to hold him steady.

"Haha, hey welcome home! Thanks, babe!" Lance grinned down at him.

Keith's heart pounded, and his face flushed. He let go of him and the ladder so that he wouldn't accidentally throw him off.

"Uh, yeah. No problem," Keith muttered.

The tree took a while to set up, but when it was all done, everyone started putting little ornaments on it. Big ones, small ones, glass ones, handmade ones, all sorts with different colours and shapes. Lance's mother tapped on his shoulder, and he turned around.

"Yes, ma'am?" Keith asked, shoulders high in tension.

"I would like for you to put the star on the tree this year, if you don't mind, Keith," she smiled.

He glanced over at Lance, confused on what to say.

"It's a tradition in our house. Newest member puts the star on. Last year and the year before that, it was little baby Claire," Lance picked up a little two year old girl and bounced her a bit. "Since you're the newest, you'd be the one to put it on."

Keith looked uncomfortable. He wasn't the newest member. He was only doing this because Lance promised his mother he'd get a date for Christmas because he turned nineteen, and he "needed to get a girlfriend or boyfriend or something so his mother doesn't have to die without being a grandmother". He felt uncomfortable, inside and out.

"I- I'd rather not-" Keith started.

"Oh, nonsense. I can see my Lance likes you quite a bit-"

"Mama!"

"- _and_ because of that, I know you're going to stick around a bit." She winked at Keith. "Now, go on, put it on, dear."

He looked at the star she shoved in his hands and looked at the very tall tree in front of him, starting to shake a bit. Lance put down the child, and she went running off with the other little kids.

"Lance, I can't reach tha- Whoa!" Keith exclaimed as his legs were wrapped around Lance's shoulders, and he was lifted into the air.

"Can you reach it, mullet man?" Lance snickered, hanging onto his legs tightly.

"Lance- Lance, I don't like heights, I don't trust you, put me down!" Keith scrambled over his words, hanging onto Lance's hands with his tightly and almost digging his nails in.

Lance bounced him once, "Then, put it up there already! You're not the lightest guy around, Keith!"

"Lance!" his mother chastised.

Keith, with one hand still digging into Lance's, reached over and put the star on top of the tree. Once he was done, he was put down, and he calmed down. His hands grasped the front of Lance's shirt as he glared up at him, body softly shaking.

Lance poked his nose, and Keith let go.

"Don't do that. Ever again," Keith grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah."

Keith looked up at him and his grinning smile, his frown slowly turning into a smile.


	5. A Beautiful Sight, We're Happy Tonight

Everyone had gone to sleep except for Keith and Lance, who were on the couch watching a movie in Spanish. Lance was apparently _into it_ , yelling in Spanish back at the screen as something minor happened. Keith was utterly lost, in the show and in Lance's voice. He sounded so much different when he spoke Spanish; his voice went much deeper.

It was kind of hot.

"What's going on now?" Keith inquired.

Lance scoffed, "So, she said she wouldn't marry him because his sister was her half-twin once-removed, and I'm just like? What does that have anything to do with love, am I right?"

Keith became slightly more confused, choosing to nod along instead. He put his hand down from his lap onto the couch- or rather, onto Lance's hand.

Lance looked at him for a second before Keith took it back, softly murmuring a "sorry".

"It's okay," Lance whispered, grabbing his hand and holding it in his.

Keith just sat there, looking into his eyes, somehow illuminated by only the television made them shine brightly. They both leaned in closer and closer, Keith looking nowhere but at him and his eyes. Darn his eyes, they sucked you in, like a- like a whirlpool or something.

"I have something to show you. Close your eyes," Lance smiled, eyes crinkling.

Keith's breath hitched, and he closed his eyes softly. This couldn't be happening. Lance was the most annoying-

Why is he taking his hand out of Keith's?

Keith grabbed for him as his presence was taken off of the couch entirely, searching blindly.

"Lance?"

"Just one more minute, okay? No peeking. I've been working on this all day," Lance's voice was behind him now.

Keith gripped at the couch, trying to keep himself grounded. He tried to level out his breathing and heartbeat, which was way too fast than it should be going right now.

"Okay, open them," Lance said from right behind him, fingers tapping on Keith's shoulders.

Keith opened his eyes to a light wonderland, twinkling lights all over the room and tinsel sparkling with each little light. He moved in a 360, circling the room; everything was glimmering, and not a single spot was out of place or not beautiful. Red danced with gold and white in a room of bedazzlement.

Keith turned back to Lance.

"You did this?"

"I made it especially for you. I know you said you haven't celebrated Christmas before, so I wanted to make it really special."

Keith rounded the corner of the couch and ran into Lance, hugging him as tight as he could.

"I- I won't say this often, so be grateful, okay?" Keith muttered into Lance's shirt. "Thank you."

"No problem, space cowboy," Lance snickered, rubbing Keith's back.

Keith sniffed, wiping away the tears at the edges of his eyes, "Don't call me that."

"Can't call you mullet man, can't call you space cowboy, yeesh, I'm running out of ideas here, Keith," Lance smiled, leaning his head on top of Keith's.

\--

"You coming to bed tonight instead of torturing yourself again?" Lance smirked, settling into the sheets.

Keith rolled his eyes, already in his pajamas from earlier, "Yeah, sure. I'm only using you for your warmth, though."

"You say that now. This Lance-y charm will wrap around you just yet," he smiled, opening the blanket for him.

Keith stepped in, laying down immediately.

"I don't want to go tree picking again for a long, long time," Keith muttered into Lance's shirt, shivering a bit from the contrast of the heat of Lance's body and the cold of the bed.

"I understand, bud. Get some rest, it's Christmas eve tomorrow."


	6. The Lap of Glory

It was chilly the next morning, but he managed to convince his body to get up and go shopping with Mrs. McClain. He was walking around with her for last minute gifts for the little ones, and a last minute gift for Lance.

"I don't know what to give him, Mrs. McClain," he sighed after the fourth aisle passed them.

She tsked, "Call me mama. And you know my baby boy, I'm sure you'll figure something out, dear."

Keith nodded silently, looking at the tiled floor. What did Lance like anyways....

Finally, he found the perfect gift and almost ran to it as he picked it up. They quickly exited the store and started wrapping the gifts in the car, as to avoid suspicion. Getting in the house with presents was a feat in and of itself without little children running around your feet.

\--

Soon, they were putting up the last of the gifts under the tree, and everything was set. Dinner was in their bellies, and Lance and Keith were sitting next to each other on the couch, thigh against thigh because of how many other people were sitting there as well.

"Can't Keith just sit in Lance's lap?" one of Lance's sisters groaned as she was elbowed.

Both of them flushed, and the rest of the group agreed with her to make more room. They both looked at each other as Keith slowly got up and sat on Lance's thigh, one of Lance's hands resting on his hip to keep him balanced. Keith couldn't look at him and decided to instead look at the TV, another Spanish show playing that he couldn't understand.

"Christmas is tomorrow, everyone, you need to go to bed. Even you, Lance," his mother scolded, wiping a towel against her hands. She must have just finished washing the dishes, Keith supposed.

"But ma-" Lance whined.

"No but's. Christmas tomorrow, everyone awake by eight. Chop chop, go go," she shooed everyone out of the living room.

Keith looked down at him from his lap, slowly getting up.

"Why are we doing this?"

"Uh, cause it's tradition? Santa comes here at midnight, so everyone has to be asleep or they don't get presents, duh," Lance shrugged, getting up as well.

"But Santa isn't r-" Keith's mouth was slapped shut as Lance's hand hit him.

"Little kids," he gritted through his teeth very softly.

Keith nodded, and Lance let him go, walking up the stairs to their - his - room. They sat down on the bed together.

"So, uh, how do you like it here?" Lance asked.

Keith looked at the ground, "I like it. I like celebrating Christmas. I wish we didn't have to lie about dating each other to your mother, though. I think she knows."

Lance nodded.

"Yeah, probably. She's got some sort of mom sense, you know?"

He smiled and laughed softly under his breath.

Lance's smile went lopsided, "You have a cute laugh."

Keith immediately stopped, blushing, "You can't just say things like that."

"What, why not? It's true," Lance shrugged, pulling some super fuzzy socks over his feet.

He frowned and stretched, laying down, "Well, we should be getting some sleep if we're supposed to be up at eight."

"Yeah, got it," Lance laid down next to him, hands over his chest. "Good night, Keith."

"Good night, space cowboy," Keith snickered under his breath as they both began to go to sleep.


	7. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

"Lance! Keith! Wake up, wake up! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!!"

They were almost pulled out of bed by the little kids, and everyone, still in their pajamas, all sat around the tree. Keith's eyes lit up by the sheer size of gifts under the tree.

Both of them sat down next to each other, and Keith's mouth hung open slightly. Lance laughed next to him, and Keith turned to him.

“I didn’t expect you, of all people, to be this excited about Christmas.”

Keith blushed and pushed him with his shoulder.

"Whatever, Lance."

"And this one is yours, Lance," his mother pushed a gift into Lance's lap.

Lance turned the tag in his fingers, showing off "To: Lance, From: Keith" written in chicken scratch. Keith obviously didn't do a very good job writing in the car.

"Keith, you told me you weren't getting me anything," Lance's brows furrowed as he looked over at him.

He looked to the ground, fiddling with the sleeves of his pajamas.

"Yeah, well, I thought I should get you something at least, being your boyfriend and all," Keith cringed slightly at the fakeness of the implications of the word, shrugging his shoulders.

Lance's face flushed at the word, and he reached over to grab a present from the pile. He shoved it into Keith's lap, looking towards his own present. They both started unwrapping theirs silently, peeling off the wrapping paper carefully. As soon as they both caught sight of what they got for each other, their heads snapped to each other.

"You got me a lion plush?!" they both said simultaneously.

Keith took out the soft plush from the wrapping, pushing it back and forth in between his fingers. It was as soft as the one he picked out for Lance, but this one, this one was red instead of blue. He turned over to Lance, who had a glimmer in his eyes. He seemed happy. Tears were falling from his face.

Wait what?!

Lance was crying. Keith panicked, hands going everywhere.

"Lance, what, no, why are you-, what?! Why are you crying?!" Keith stuttered.

Lance sniffled, throwing his hands over Keith in a tight hug.

"This is the best gift ever, thank you thank you!" Lance sobbed into his ear.

Keith softly pat his back, awkwardly.

"Uh, there there? Thank you?" Keith laughed nervously.

\--

Keith had barely taken his hands off of the plush by dinnertime. Lance had put his in his room because the little kids had been trying to take it from him.

"Lance, dear, come help me in the kitchen," his mother called.

Lance stretched as he got up, walking over to the doorway.

"I'll come with," Keith also got up, holding the plush against his thigh as he walked up next to Lance.

"Haha, mistletoe! Now you gotta kiss!"

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Keith looked from the little kids to above his head, seeing the little mistletoe hung above both of them. His eyes went over to Lance, who was blushing lightly and scratching the back of his neck.

"It's- It's okay, we don't have to-" Lance nervously said, putting his hands down.

"Mistletoe is a rule in this house, Lance. Hurry up now, I only have two hands in here," Mrs. McClain said, smiling at the both of them from the kitchen.

Lance looked down at the ground.

Keith could barely think of anything other than how close Lance was getting. His hand went under Keith's chin, looking into his eyes.

"May I kiss you?"

Lance's voice was soft, Keith could feel the warmth of his breath against his lips. He smelt like the gingerbread cookies he stole from earlier before they were finished cooling. If not for being in the moment, so close to Lance, Keith would've laughed at the memory of Lance practically screaming with a single cookie in his mouth, refusing to let go even though he was burning his tongue. Would he taste like them, too?

Slowly and unsure, afraid of what his voice would do is he spoke, Keith nodded.

Their lips connected briefly, and a warmth enveloped Keith as they kissed. Keith barely had time to close his eyes. It didn't have fireworks, or static. Just warmth. A warmth that he wanted to feel again and again.

Lance stepped back, smiling a lop-sided smile and shoving his hands into his pockets in a nervous habit.

"Thanks."

He hopped back into the kitchen, a skip to his step. Keith looked at his back as he went to help his mother, a hand reaching up to touch his lips.

He whispered under his breath.

"Wow."


	8. All I Want For Christmas Is You

Their bags were packed that night, and they were ready to return to the college dorms. More cheek kisses than he had ever gotten in his life happened in the span of ten minutes. All of the kids had wrapped themselves around Keith's and Lance's legs, begging them not to go. Lance had to say about fourteen times over that they had to go because of some tests they needed to start studying for. There was a lot of crying involved. Finally, they made it outside and started making the trek back to their car down the road.

The snow was slowly falling around them, the darkness almost surrounded their bodies had it not been for the moonlight above them.

"So."

Keith turned to Lance and looked up at him, "So?"

Lance shuffled his feet into the snow as they walked. Keith pulled Lance's coat closer on him, deciding to steal one of his jackets before they left. His own coat was definitely not warm enough, as he told Lance.

"Did you like it?" Lance questioned, looking forward. "My family, I mean. Like, the whole Christmas thing."

Keith smiled a bit, "Honestly, I don't think I can remember everyone, and everything went by so quickly."

Lance hummed in answer.

"I liked everyone, though. I think I could do this another year," Keith's face flushed a bit.

Lance looked over at him, his feet crumbling the gravel beneath his feet. His grin was bright.

"I think I'd like that," he grinned.

He stopped walking near a lamppost right next to the car. Keith looked behind his shoulder at him, stopping his steps as well. Did Lance forget something at the house?

"Keith?"

Lance wasn't looking at him.

"Did you forget something? Or-" Keith sent a glare at him, suspicious. "You're not planning another snowball fight, right? Cause I swear to all that is holy, I will end you this time-"

"I think I'm in love with you."

It seemed like the air had stopped moving around them, even though the chill air kept hitting their cheeks and the snow had kept falling. Keith's breath caught in his throat.

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, his heart confused.

"What?!"

It was meant to be a bewildered statement but came out more as a yell.

"I know you don't-" Lance started, eyebrows tilting up.

"You can't- You can't _like_ me!" Keith started, hands in the air, looking only at his hands and straight ahead. He didn't even notice Lance through his confusion.

Lance took a step towards him, "But I-"

Keith put both hands out to him in a 'wait' motion, and Lance paused his movements.

"No, no, no, no, no. Lance, you can't- I'm nothing-"

Lance cut him off, "You're not nothing-"

Keith put a hand to him again, the other burrowing into his black hair, "That's not what I meant. I mean- just- I'm not what you want."

Lance looked almost offended, "That's not even true."

"You don't!" Keith exclaimed, starting to pace in a small circle. "I'm not- I'm not like you! I don't bake-"

"You don't have to bake for me to like you-"

"I can't even cook pasta!"

"What does that even have to do with this, Keith?!" Lance almost yelled, frustrated.

"I'm not warm like you; I don't have a family; I don't- I don't know how to do this! I don't know how to be a part of your life, let alone _dating_ you!"

Lance stepped forward again, about a foot away from Keith, "We can figure that out, okay?"

Keith stepped back slightly, hugging his frame and shaking his head.

"I want you to be a part of my life, Keith. You're- You're so kind, and your laugh is cute, and your hair is cute, and I- Keith, you drive me up the wall!"

"Exactly!" Keith flailed his hands in front of him again.

Lance held him in place by the tops of his arms, "Keith, listen to me!"

Keith looked away from him, towards the ground, a soft frown on his face.

"I don't want you to try to be perfect! You can't be perfect all the time, Keith, you just can't! That's not what I want! I want to eat bad food with you and stay in our dorms all day watching Netflix, and I want to take you home to my family for real, and I- God, Keith, I just want _you_! I want your good parts, I want your flaws, I just-"

"Shut up!" Keith's eyes closed shut as he shouted at him.

Lance's mouth hung open slightly as he looked at the smaller man.

"I know," Keith glared at the ground below him. His voice lowered, "You're just being a hero right now, being who I want you to be, and it's not what-"

"Can I kiss you?" Lance interrupted.

Keith looked up at him in surprise and sighed softly, entire body once tense had started to unwind.

"Lance-"

"Please," he pleaded softly.

Keith's entire wall crashed down, and he started to tear up, unable to take it any more. He nodded once.

Lance bent down slightly, holding Keith's cheek in his hand and pressing his lips gently to Keith's.

It lasted longer than the last, all hard holds and presses. Their lips came together hard and stayed there, neither moving, just trying to hold each other in the moment.

Keith let go first, looking down and putting himself in Lance's arms, his head pressing against his chest.

"You know I'm not the best at emotions and feelings."

"I know."

"I'm going to be moody, and we're going to fight a lot."

"Definitely."

"It's not going to be perfect."

"It doesn't have to be."

"You could probably get someone better."

"I don't want anyone else."

"I don't know why you want me. I'm just...a mess."

"I know, and I love you."

Keith sighed softly into his jacket, fingers curling around the sides of Lance's jacket.

"I love you, too."

Everything was packed up in the car that night, the many presents almost blocking the view from behind them in the car. The car back was a comfortable silence, breaking only to recall the weekend in snippets. The lion plushies sat on top of the dash, side by side, vibrating slightly from the motions of the car.

\--

Keith and Lance walked hand in hand back into the library to meet their friends. Allura and Shiro were sitting together on one side while Pidge and Hunk sat on the other. They seemed to be in a casual conversation, hands gesturing here and there.

"Hey, guys!" Lance called, waving the hand that was in Keith's up.

Keith blushed profusely as he tried to lower their hands, and everyone turned to look at them. Everyone's faces lit up.

Everyone jumped when Pidge slammed their hands on the table, earning a _shh_ from across the room. Pidge's finger pointed at them.

"Ha! I win, pay up!" Pidge laughed loudly.

Lance and Keith looked at each other, confused, before looking back at the group.

"Aw, come on, Keith, you couldn't have waited until New Year's to ask him out?" Shiro sighed, fishing his hand into his pocket to hand a five dollar bill to Pidge and frowning playfully.

Keith looked down at the ground, then at their clasped hands.

"Actually, Lance asked me out," Keith shrugged, a small smile on his face.

Pidge smiled, "Aww, how cute. Pay up, guys."

They all groaned, handing Pidge money again. Lance laughed loudly while Keith chuckled under his breath, and they went to sit down at the table.

"Ah, Merry Christmas, you dorks," Lance wrapped his arm around Keith.

Keith sighed, "Christmas ended three days ago, Lance."

"Really? Cause I thought it was still Christmas, what with how your eyes light up like a Christmas tree when I kiss you," Lance planted a kiss on his cheek, and Keith groaned.

"I think I'd rather they go back to fighting, _yuck_ ," Pidge joked, pointing to his mouth in a gag motion.

Keith looked up at Lance, a small smile on his face.

~*♥*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the story for magikatfish!! I do hope you like it! Merry Klancemas~! ♥♥♥


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